Lando - 94 Build (1 Viewer)

[brettk]

Last year after my wife and I were married, I inherited her Pontiac Grand Prix, and I knew it had to go. She wanted an SUV with 3rd row seats, so my initial thought was a High Lander thinking she would never go for something like my pickup (89). Well she surprised me and wanted to go look at this, and we brought it home that afternoon. I leached off of you guys for about 6 months, then got around and joined...now I guess I should show you guys what you’ve helped us work through over the past year, and hopefully many more. Meet Lando.

 

[brettk]

Prior to Cruisers and Mud, I’ve only changed fluids in vehicles and never worked on much of anything else. Thanks to you guys, I’ve rebuilt the PS Pump, replaced the steering box and cooler, rebuilt the knuckles, added the cdl switch, and removed that terrible wood grain. I brag about this place constantly, and I’m sure my wife, coworkers, and church friends get sick of hearing about it...but you guys have saved us a ton of money, thank you.

 

[brettk]

Also we stripped the entire interior, pressure washed the carpets, (something I recommend to anyone who buys a used vehicle) and added Siless, the cheap Russian Federation alternative to Dynamat. So far so good! Wasn’t able to get a picture of the closed cell foam layer, but it’s a much quieter ride now.

 

[baldilocks]

Looks good. Did you pack the knuckle completely full of grease? Should be packed about 75% full.

 

[brettk]

Looks good. Did you pack the knuckle completely full of grease? Should be packed about 75% full.

Thanks! It kinda seems like it full, but it’s not. I went by Romers thread in the faq, and OTRAMMS video on YouTube. I appreciate you asking!

 

[brettk]

So last weekend I was installIng Joeys QPM and accidentally dropped a ratchet down into the “rust bucket” and I heard it hit the ground...I was as confused as you are now. I crawled underneath and there laid the ratchet on the ground surrounded by a bunch of rusty metal chips. *audible sigh*. This rig had some surface rust underneath when we bought it last year, but wasn’t terrible. Apparently there’s a reason for the nickname, because I missed this spot being behind the bumper and above the muffler. I went to a local Toyota junkyard and luckily there was a totaled 80 with unmolested buckets. I have 0 welding experience nor a welder, so I let a guy I work with tackle it. I think he did a phenomenal job.

 

[brettk]

The only thing that hadn’t been cleaned up to this point was the seats, so we rented an upholstery cleaner to see if it made a difference. We didn’t expect much with brown cloth, but were pretty surprised. Did half the seat to show the difference.

 

[brettk]

It’s been a while since I updated. We recently moved to Nebraska, and after finding out that a paint job will run at least $10k at any respectable painter, I opted to leave our 80 back in TN to be painted. This is the picture we just got. I’ll fly back home and drive it back in less than a month. We’re stoked!

Since the last post, it’s gotten new pads and rotors and rebuilt calipers all the way around, wheels and tires, leveled out the stinkbug stance, and headers courtesy of @ACC Toyota. We also ordered all new window runs and seals from amayama and sent them to our painter since he was taking out the old ones anyways. I’ll update with pictures again once we get it back.

 

[Irish Reiver]

Red land cruisers are starting to get my attention. Yours looks sweet

 

[VIZTU1]

What wheels and tire size are you running? It looks very good!

 

[brettk]

What wheels and tire size are you running? It looks very good!

Thanks! American Racing Baja 16x10. 315”s on the tires.

 

[brettk]

Back in TN for the week, our 80 is like new!

The plan is to drive it 18 hours back to Nebraska this weekend. There has been a lean code and a slight hesitation on start up, and I knew the lid to the fuel pump was pretty rusty, so I figured the rest of it was. So I replaced it all fearing the worst. Turns out it was just the lid, but the less rust the better, so I didn’t mind too much. Idle is noticeably smoother now.

 

[brettk]

Made it back to Nebraska. Bushings are a shot, I’m taking these out with a torch and a vice. I think this is my least favorite thing I’ve done on the wagon so far. The ride quality makes it worth it though.

 

[FMC80]

Nice 80 man, where in TN did you take it to get painted?

 

[brettk]

Nice 80 man, where in TN did you take it to get painted?

Right around the Sevierville area. There was a guy that graduated a couple of years behind me that’s excellent. He mainly does small stuff for used car dealers that he can turn over in one or 2 days, but he said he would paint ours since he had so much time.

 

[mudgudgeon]

The 80 is looking real sharp Brett!!

 

[brettk]

The 80 is looking real sharp Brett!!

Thanks Dave!

 

[brettk]

It’s been a minute. Since the last post; we’ve bought and almost completely remodeled a house, conceived, then had a baby. To say the least, I’ve not had time for much. I’ve got a couple of things in the works though.

The rings started to go on cylinder 6, I’m dumping in a quart of oil every time I’m filling up with fuel. Emily likes this wagon a lot, so we decided to go the short block route with a remanned head from @ACC Toyota. I’ll start on this in a few weeks hopefully. I’ve got a lot more stuff to refresh in the engine bay that isn’t pictured.

 

[brettk]

Our headliner is really starting to sag in the middle, and I read on here from @ZeGerman that with a little modification, you can put the cardboard headliner from the 95-97 LC’s. I got a great deal on a headliner that was in good shape, but absolutely filthy. I rented a carpet cleaner from the local hardware store and went to work.

Before (with a little test clean spot in the middle)

After

I did run into a tiny problem while cleaning. The brushes really made the fabric pill. I took a small disposable razor to the headliner and pillars and they worked like a charm.

I’ll add sound deadener when I get around to putting all of this in. I’ll probably tackle it after the engine swap.

 

[brettk]

Looking back, I was really optimistic. First motor pull is officially done though!

Took me a couple of weeks to tear it down and put it all back together. This thing was disgusting. Everything is practically new now. Powder coated the intake, oil pan, and valve cover. Had a local gun shop cerakote the headers

This is where I left it this afternoon. I’ve still got a couple of days ahead of me. I’m not as fast as some of you goobers. I’m waiting on a timing chain tensioner, I miiight have it put back together before then. I’ll keep y’all posted. Hope this thing runs as good as it looks!